Seoul National University has secured its position as a leader in sustainability by achieving number one in South Korea, 3rd in Asia, and 46th globally in the QS Sustainbaility Rankings 2024. QS introduced the Sustainability Rankings in 2022 to measure universities’ abilities to tackle the world’s greatest environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, with the results used in the following year’s world university rankings.

The ranking methodology is comprised of 53 detailed metrics in 9 indicators in 3 categories: Environmental Impact (45%), Social Impact (45%), and Governance (10%). The evaluation is based on the data directly provided by universities, bibliometric data from Elsevier’s Scopus database, QS reputation survey, and national-level statistics. SNU has strongly performed across many indicators, especially in Impact of Education (15th globally) and Employability and Opportunities (22nd globally).

In 2023, SNU has taken a pioneering step in the Korean higher education landscape by publishing an ESG report, a comprehensive documentation of its ESG practices, and will continue to commit various efforts to create a sustainable education and research environment.

In addition to its remarkable achievements in sustainability, it is also noteworthy that SNU was notably ranked number one in "the world for" the industry pillar of Times Higher Education (THE)’s World University Rankings 2024, showcasing its strong collaboration and contributions to industry partnerships, innovation, and knowledge transfer.